We’re currently knee-deep in final edits on Lemonade Summer! Gabi is now finishing up revisions for Ro & Ella based on sensitivity readings and editorial notes. We want to make sure we’re representing our characters as well as we can!

We’ve also chosen the recipients for our book donations!

Once the survey is sent out, backers will be able to choose among these three organizations and books will be delivered directly. You can also have us choose for you or have books sent to you so you can deliver them yourself to a library, school or youth space in your area.

Time Out Youth Center located in Charlotte, NC offers support, advocacy, and opportunities for personal development and social interaction to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) youth ages 11-20. They have a drop-in space, host workshops, social activities as well as offer services such as housing for homeless youth, counseling, testing, helping with finding jobs and getting a diploma/GED and so so much more.

LGBT Books to Prisoners based out of Madison, WI is a trans-affirming, racial justice-focused, prison abolitionist project sending books to incarcerated LGBTQ-identified people across the United States. They have been doing this for over 10 years and have sent books to nearly 8,000 people in that time. They want to acknowledge, and work against, the oppressive functions of the prison system. Their project shifts some control back into incarcerated people’s hands.

Lambert House based in Seattle, WA is a center for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth that empowers youth through the development of leadership, social, and life skills. Lambert House serves a diverse group. Over 50% of the youth who come to Lambert House are youth of color, and from all over the region representing more than 130 zip codes equally distributed to the North, South, East and West.

With 48 hours left, the CHP team chatted online as we watched our Kickstarter campaign hour after hour, updating each other as we drew closer and closer to our goal of $15,000. Then...IT. HAPPENED. We reached $15,000! Some were speechless, some in denial, but overall we were ecstatic!

Lemonade Summer is officially funded! But there's still time to hit our $20,000 stretch goal. In these last 24 hours, if we can push to $20,000, EVERYONE who pledged for a physical book will get a behind-the-scenes zine. "Making Lemonade" will be a booklet full of character design sketches, working scripts, thumbnails, color palette tests, editor notes, a comic we had to edit out of the final book and much more. This will compile a year's journey to making this book happen! Check out some previews below:

"Making Lemonade" mockup

We went through so many cover ideas! It took us about 3 months to decide on a cover. These sketches are just the tip of the iceberg.

Sometimes the best ideas aren't the most fun to draw. Seen here are Gabi's notes saying "This damn car again because I'm a masochist."

Thanks to everyone who tuned in to the Livestream with Gabi and Sheika! Hope you had fun hanging out with us (and Buckles the Cow-Cat)

One of the rewards we previewed was the "Secret Agents Only" tier. At $200, it is our highest reward! This tier comes with a copy of the book, postcards and a super cute USB drive packed with extra art, 10 original tracks and album art made by Cris Valles. The music was composed by Cris to accompany each story. Check out this preview video:

"We were lucky enough to get a glimpse at Lemonade Summer and the comic is lovely, showcasing a positive, sweet, and loving representation of the young queer experience! Mendez is clearly an amazing talent, and her sweet, soft art is a wonder to behold." Rosie Knight, The Nerdist

"The premise is sweet, the art is cute and the project itself is important — there just aren’t enough stories for queer kids about queer kids." Jameson Hampton, Rogues Portal & Women Write About Comics

"Positive narratives about LGBTQ and non-binary folks are sadly uncommon in popular media, especially when it comes to children centered works. This vibrant and fun collection would be a great addition to a summer reading list." Andrea Ayres, ComicsBeat

"FINALLY!! Queer comics for children!! (And I’ve seen some of these and I’m 30 and they were still amazing!)" HP Lehkonen, Short Gay Stories, Life Outside the Circle

"It’s a powerful debut that is emotionally raw while being sweet, funny, and playful on many levels." Alex Dueben, Smash Pages

"What I love about this collection is that these marginalized identities are important to each story. However, they don’t dictate the plot. These are just kids and young adults going on adventures." Ashley Wertz, ComicsVerse

We've been hard at work over here getting ready for the Kickstarter launching March 1. A huge part of it is the video! Animators Jenna and Cris have been making magic. We want so bad to share but just a few more days. Until then, here's a sneak peek (listen?) at a bit of original music made by A. Cris Valles.

Kickstarter March 1

WE'RE EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE LEMONADE SUMMER BY GABI MENDEZ, AN ALL-AGES COLLECTION OF COMIC STORIES ABOUT ACCEPTANCE AND FRIENDSHIP.

In the summer of our dreams, young pirate runaways learn to accept each other regardless of gender presentation. The new girl in town finds solidarity in female friendship. A roller derby unexpectedly lights the spark of a first-time crush. Friends find confidence in their own voice, and teens face the uncertainty of growing up.

“THERE ARE STORIES ABOUT KIDS AND GROWING UP, AND THERE ARE STORIES ABOUT THE LGBT EXPERIENCE; BUT THE TWO DON'T OFTEN INTERSECT IN A POSITIVE WAY. LGBT ISSUES AREN'T JUST ADULT ISSUES! MY STORIES ARE FOR ALL AGES: POSITIVE STORIES OF KIDS AND YOUNG ADULTS NAVIGATING LIFE AND HELPING EACH OTHER WHILE NOT IGNORING THEIR IDENTITIES AS TRANSGENDER, BISEXUAL, NON-BINARY, LESBIAN, AND MORE.”- GABI MENDEZ

GABI MENDEZ is a Latinx artist, bouncing between living in the West Coast and art-making in Savannah, GA. Her work tends to be about friendship, misadventures, and the absurd experience of growing up. She makes a lot of silly comics, says “dude” too much, and just wants everyone to feel included.